 |
| Yehudi Menuhin was one
of the century's greatest violinists |
| 1999: Violinist Yehudi Menuhin
dies |
England have
One of the 20th century's finest musicians Yehudi Menuhin has died,
aged 82.
Lord Menuhin was in Berlin, Germany, to conduct a concert when he fell
ill with bronchitis . He died
in hospital after a brief illness.
His musical career spanned more than seven decades. He made his debut
in San Francisco as a child prodigy aged seven and by the age of 13, had
performed in London, Paris and Berlin.
He went on to develop his talents as a violinist, conductor and
teacher, founding the Yehudi Menuhin School, in Surrey, for gifted young
musicians in 1963.
Menuhin was born in New York of Russian Jewish parents. But he came to
settle in Britain in 1985 - drawn, he said, by his love for the music of
the English composer Sir Edward Elgar.
Human Rights campaigner
At the age of 16 the young violinist was conducted by Sir Edward in a
now famous recording of the composer's violin concerto, made in 1932.
His performances of classical works, like Beethoven's violin concerto
were rapturously received. Albert Einstein famously said after hearing him
play: "Now I know there is a God in heaven."
But he was also keen to experiment and played duets with the renowned
jazz violinist, Stephane Grappelli, as well as the sitar star Ravi
Shankar.
Menuhin became a campaigner for human rights. His biographer, Humphrey
Burton, said: "He was never just a musician, from very early on he wanted
to do other things, to make his music work for humanity."
The violinist went to Germany after World War II to play for the
survivors of the Belsen concentration camp and he was also the first Jew
to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic after the war.
He married his second wife ballerina Diana Gould in 1947 and she is
credited as being a guiding force in his work.
A minute's silence was held at the Yehudi Menuhin school today. One of
the school's most famous pupils, violinist Nigel Kennedy, paid tribute to
Sir Yehudi as an "inspiration".
The virtuoso told the BBC in 1997: "I really think music is a
birthright that belongs to every child, I put it on the same level as
breathing air."
He was knighted in 1987 and became a life peer in
1993.
